Eiffel Tower evacuated after threatening phone call

PARIS (Reuters) - The Eiffel Tower was completely evacuated on Sunday afternoon following a threatening phone call, a police official told Reuters.

An aerial view shows the Eiffel Tower (C), the Seine River and the Paris skyline on July 14, 2013. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

The 324-metre-high (1,062-foot) iron tower was evacuated around 3 p.m. (9.00 a.m. ET) and had not reopened to tourists by 5.30 p.m. The sector around it was fully cleared, the police official said. He could give no further details.

Built in 1889 and one of the world’s most recognizable monuments, the Eiffel Tower sees some 7 million visitors each year and up to 30,000 a day in the peak summer season.

It is regularly subject to bomb scares which are usually quickly found to be hoaxes and only cause full evacuations a couple of times a year.